Happy New Year!

WOW. December flew by! And here we are in 2010. I have a tickly feeling that this is going to be a great year. I will be turning 32 in January, which sounds like the perfect age to be. I hope it feels as good as it sounds! Since my last post (the much needed hair cut -- so glad that was done before holiday photos), we have had a lot of firsts. First visit with Santa, first Christmas party, first Christmas, first solid foods, first trip to the grocery store sitting in the cart like a big girl...so much going on it's been difficult to find time to write. On top of that, I am moving my office home so that I can manage my practice more easily. I will continue to see clients in my old office space-- I'm just renting a conference room and reception help now. I hope this transition will make things easier on all of us.

Baby girl and I joined Da-da at the annual family Rotary holiday celebration where she met Santa. Her little buddy, Jackson, had visited with Santa just beforehand and cried bloody murder so I decided to sit on Santa's lap with her...she was well mannered and didn't really need me along. (Mama ruined the picture, I think.)

Baby Rotarian.

Meeting the big guy for the first time.

The reason Mama decided to sit in the picture.

For better or for worse, we did not get out to many Christmas gatherings this year. I made a gingerbread house with a dear friend, attended a cookie exchange with some great ladies in the neighborhood, and, as a family, we attended a little early evening gathering with other babies present. The other babies were slightly older-- ranging from 9 months to 14 months, and ALL boys-- but my sweet pea held her own. As the only girl, she even got to wear the sequined Santa hat.

For Christmas, we had my parents-- the oh-so-excited maternal grandparents-- visiting. It was a non-stop love fest for baby girl. She was very fatigued by all of the cooing, kissing, hugging, and loving bestowed on her by her adoring grandparents. Here are a few photos of opening her first Christmas present.

Just when we thought our fun had ended, we were graced with a fantastic visit by some dear friends who live in New York City, but intend to find their way back to the West Coast sometime in the next year or so. They found out they were pregnant about a month before we did. Here was the first meeting between our little ones!

Yes, you're seeing this right-- they held hands right away! ADORABLE.

Whew. It was a whirlwind of a December, but we are ready for the new year. As I type this, I am looking at boxes and boxes of legal files, office supplies, filing devices, etc. that are going to somehow fit in my new "home office." For the time being, we're just shoving some other furniture out of the way so that I have some space, rather than leaving my computer and files perpetually at the dining table, which drives my husband nuts. It has begun to drive me nuts as well because I can never find what I am looking for! Eventually, we plan to wall off half of what is now our TV room to create an office space. This house desperately needs more storage and a bigger utility room, so that is likely what the rest of the TV room will be converted into...pantry, laundry, storage cupboards. We will then just put our TV-- which we seldom use-- in the living room. Husband is jazzed over the concept of a wall-mounted flat screen in the living room...we'll see what happens.

Wishing everyone a happy, healthy 2010. I can't put my finger on why I think this year is going to be great, but I just have that feeling. xx

First haircut!

Sweet baby girl born with a ton of hair

Hair is getting a little long...

Little Miss was born with a ton of hair and continued to grow that hair to great lengths. Unfortunately, she also decided to rub a little bald spot on the back of her head. The result left something to be desired in the world of baby style. (A baby mullet.) So, yesterday, after a long internal debate, I whipped out the hair scissors and clippers, put sweet girl in her Bumbo seat in front of the bathroom mirror and trimmed her little 'do. (Yes, I saved a bunch of the hair in a Ziplock bag.) She was fairly patient, but I was extra, extra careful because she has the ability to lunge and lurch at any given moment. Here are the before and after shots:

BEFORE

Ye olde bald spot and mullet tail. Oh dear.

Hey, that baby is sitting up! (Woohoo!) And has a long comb over!
(Uh oh.)

AFTER

Haven't had a chance yet to get a good back of the head shot, but what an improvement!

And it is light, fluffy and back to curling again, which I LOVE.

Bittersweet December

Baby girl with her paternal grandmother in Butte, MT.

So far December has been a mix of wonderful experiences to build memories on and a some sad moments we won't soon forget. We wrapped up November with a fantastic trip to Butte, Montana, to visit the paternal homestead. We stalled until the last minute in deciding whether to make the drive, but the weather was clear, the baby was mostly quiet, and it was better than we could have anticipated. Baby girl got to spend several days with her paternal grandparents and made her first trip to Montana. (Maternal grandparents got a visit in September.) So baby girl is off and running as a road tripper! Thanksgiving was a quiet affair, and we had a lovely time. Unfortunately, while away, we learned that my grandmother is ailing. And this time it looks like the last of her days. She decided that she did not want any further procedures to alleviate complications she was experiencing due to congestive heart failure. Grandma is 90 years old and has lived a long, engaged, full life...so circumstances could be worse in relaying this news. But it is difficult to lose a loved one, no matter how reasonable the circumstances. I am particularly close to Grandma, so it is very difficult to know she is quietly slipping from us in a town so many miles away.

Ada working on a spoon during breakfast. Grandma knitted her a little Santa hat.

So I have pulled out the many Christmas decorations that my grandmother has made or passed on to me over the years. I have begun baking Christmas goodies in her tradition. I'm remembering all of the years of singing Christmas carols out of her little handmade carol books. I want my little darling girl to experience, from the beginning, the warmth that these little details bring to the season. She is fortunate to have grandparents, like I did, that want her to feel special and loved every day of the year.

A very little baby girl with her maternal grandparents.

Busy November!

November has just flown by. National Adoption Day (November 21) was celebrated here in Yakima County on November 12. There were 14 foster-to-adopt children adopted at Juvenile Court in front of Comm. Inouye, who is generally assigned to the hardest part of that process -- watching suffering families work to rehabilitate their parenting skills or, worse, watching parents deliberately ignore the State's mandates for services and go off the grid, leaving their children in limbo. He got to see the wonderful end product to some tough cases. Mostly, we finalize adoptions downtown at the Superior Court, so he doesn't get to see the good part. This was a great chance for him to realize that he does important work. At any rate, that is what I have been doing since the early part of November -- rushing around to get adoption packets together and filed with the court. It was a great success! For a really nice article on one of my clients, see here: http://www.yakima-herald.com/stories/2009/11/11/11-12-09-adoption

Baby girl had her 4 month shots this week. She was actually two days short of 5 months, so we were a bit late! This time the actual process was much better. I did not look her in the eye when the shots were administered, so was able to just scoop her up and comfort her without that look of confusion in her eye as to why I was so cruel. She looked at the nurse that way, but not me! Yes! The post-visit situation has been less easy. Little miss had a bit of a fever and has been a cranky pants for several days. She has been sleeping and napping well though, which will hopefully help her to bounce back soon. I miss those little smiles and giggles.

Her measurements are all fairly average. She is still right around the 50th percentile for height and weight, with a slightly smaller than average head size. Small, but mighty, this baby girl can flip over from back to tummy and is trying to figure out how to roll back over. We're playing a new game that involves her practicing sitting up and standing, and she can't get enough of it. It is the only game that has gotten me a smile in the past few days.

My sweet girl is actually 5 months old today. Here are a few "almost 5 months old" pictures from the past week or so. Note the Oregon Duck onesie from her Duck loving Grandpa!

Waiting, waiting

Baby girl NEVER takes a long morning nap. And by never, I mean...never! We've been working on enjoying a morning nap for weeks now, but she just seems to enjoy snoozing for half an hour, then waking up to enjoy the rest of what the morning has to offer. Today, when I actually have agreed to be somewhere post-naptime, she is taking a glorious, long siesta. Isn't that the way it seems to always go? My workload has actually picked up quite a bit this week, so naptime is a precious commodity for getting a few things done. I soothed, shushed, rocked, snuggled and loved that baby to bits in the hope that she would settle in for some long naps all week long. However, no matter the time of day, little Miss decided she preferred being awake to asleep and that was that. So, here comes the day when I am counting on her little mini-nap and (insert sigh and motherly head shake here), alas, the nap goes on and on. I'm actually pretty tempted to run around the house being careless with my noisemaking. Flush the toilet a few times, move some furniture around, talk on the phone in my not-so-quiet voice...anything that I normally do with care while I hope that she stays asleep for those few extra precious minutes. The time she spends asleep is not only essential for my ability to accomplish little tasks, but it is so, so good for her little growing brain and body. After a good nap, she is just the smilingest, happiest thing. So I guess we will be late to our meeting, but we will be in a good mood!

The week in review.

Not sure about everyone else, but my Gmail account was acting up this week. Its issues seem to have affected my blogger account as well, so this week's posts are a little late. As you can see below, baby girl was a bumble bee for Halloween. We went to a few select neighbors to show her off in her cute little costume. She really hates head wear, so the first time she was dressed in the bee costume there were some little fits of dissatisfaction. By Halloween evening, she was more accepting and seemed to think of it as an all-weather suit as we walked the neighborhood, rather than a torture device. It was fun to think of future Halloweens and future costumes. Our neighborhood is sorely lacking in little ones, according to the old-timers. In the early 60s, our block was a new development teeming with the children of young professionals. Now, 40 years later, those young professionals are the anchors of the block, setting the standard with their intensive gardening and fertilizing schedules, waiting patiently for their gaggle of grandchildren to come in their costumes. They sure enjoy seeing our baby girl out on a walk or dressed in festive holiday wear.

I just snapped a quick photo of my sweet pea on our way out the door this week. We were on our way to Costco to purchase many more things than we actually needed. She finally fits into this cute OshKosh sweatshirt. You can't really see it, but it is the perfect shade of turquoise to set off her pretty blue eyes. (And it color coordinates with her binky, a fashion plus.) Her great grandma gave her this tiger stuffed animal, and she loves it. It goes with us a lot. Can you see why all of the grandmothers in Costco had to stop and coo at her?

In other news, the bassinet has been refilled! No, I'm not pregnant.

Mrs. C has decided that the bassinet was really meant for her all along.

Trick or Treat